Typography is more than just a design choice - it’s a way to reflect, accentuate and even change the way a brand speaks to its audiences.
Type can reflect tone of voice through a whole host of design choices (letter spacing, alternate characters, reactive type, all-caps, all-lower-case and typographic treatments, just to name a few). It can also influence the way we read; italics become emphasis, spacing signals p a c e and capitals tend to SOUND LIKE YELLING.
Let’s take a look at some recent examples where type and tone go hand in hand - as well as what happens when they don’t.
Barnardo's
Built from multiple co-creation sessions with children and young people across the UK and Northern Ireland, the Barnardo’s typeface uses alternate characters to reflect a range of human emotions - confident, sad, angry, silly, excited, stressed, loved and much more - and visually represent the feeling at the heart of the copy.
Mountain Hardwear
A heavy, industrial-feeling custom type family - inspired by the logo - that reinforces the strength and quality of their products and carries through into the bold, boisterous tone of voice to create a really exciting, adventurous verbal identity.
Moa
Moa Technology, a startup specialising in innovative herbicides, needed to build a visual language from their existing logo. We chose the typeface F37 Ping Pong for its circle-based lettering, reflecting both their logo and methodical approach to product development. It emphasises the voice of the brand too, by visually representing the people who inspired it: Moa’s team of brilliant minds who are on a mission to transform their field – and the world.
Fox Summer of Stars
Sometimes typography takes the main stage and literally embodies a brand’s personality. Summer of Stars is low on word count but big on impact, thanks to this typographic star motif and a matching motion system that imbues real energy.
What happens when type and tone don’t match up?
To prove a point - and have some fun - we took some iconic quotes from our favourite films and did a little experiment. First, by matching the type with the vibe (and tone) of the film. Then by completely reimagining it, turning threatening into joyful and vice versa.